A Local Researcher’s Experiences of the Insider–Outsider Position: An Exercise of Self-Reflexivity During Ethnographic GBV and HIV Prevention Research in South Africa

Abstract

Examining the researcher’s position during the research process is important to enhance the representation of research participants and the local context where knowledge is produced. This article aims to reflect the experiences of a local researchers’ insider–outsider position during a qualitative study drawing on ethnographic methods. Familiarity with the research community can be advantageous for an insider researcher position while an outsider researcher position may be enable more observance of aspects of daily life to which insiders may be blinded during the inquiry, interpretation, and data analysis. Researchers who often strive for a balance between the two positions can find it challenging yet rewarding. In this study, research participants played a critical role in shaping the local researcher’s dual identity as the outsider position remained at the forefront of interactions with the research process despite familiarity with the local language, culture, and research setting. This view, however, shifted after the local researcher seemed to have “earned” the insider position. Local researchers need to invest in extensive self-reflexivity, acknowledge the vulnerabilities of dual positionality, and capitalize on the shared qualities and differences with research participants to enhance the representation of research participants in the process of knowledge production.